Best of Fiorello La Guardia

Best of Fiorello La Guardia

Astoria Park Pool and Play Center

Emilio Guerra

Astoria, Queens The Astoria Play Center is one of a group of eleven immense new outdoor swimming pools which were opened in the summer of 1936 in a series of grand ceremonies presided over by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Park Commissioner Robert Moses. All were constructed largely with funding provided by the Works Progress Administration, one of the many New Deal agencies created during the 1930s to address the effects of America's Great Depression. Designed to accommodate a total of 49,000 users simultaneously at locations scattered across the entire city, and completed just two and a half years after the LaGuardia administration took office, the new pool complexes gained quick recognition as being among the most remarkable public recreational facilities ever constructed in this country.

Astoria, Queens The Astoria Play Center is one of a group of eleven immense new outdoor swimming pools which were opened in the summer of 1936 in a series of grand ceremonies presided over by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Park Commissioner Robert Moses. All were constructed largely with funding provided by the Works Progress Administration, one of the many New Deal agencies created during the 1930s to address the effects of America's Great Depression. Designed to accommodate a total of 49,000 users simultaneously at locations scattered across the entire city, and completed just two and a half years after the LaGuardia administration took office, the new pool complexes gained quick recognition as being among the most remarkable public recreational facilities ever constructed in this country.

Mayro & Fire Commisioner On The Scene

Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography

American politician and New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) (left) and Fire Commissioner John James McElligott (1882 - 1946) (center) look up at a fire in a 6-story loft building (at 30 Greenwich Avenue), New York, New York, February 2, 1940. (Photo by Weegee (Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)

American politician and New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) (left) and Fire Commissioner John James McElligott (1882 - 1946) (center) look up at a fire in a 6-story loft building (at 30 Greenwich Avenue), New York, New York, February 2, 1940. (Photo by Weegee (Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)

Aluminum Appeal

FPG

Mayor of New York Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) appealing to Americans to collect scrap aluminium for the war effort, New York, circa 1943. La Guardia is speaking as Director of the Office of Civilian Defense.

Mayor of New York Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) appealing to Americans to collect scrap aluminium for the war effort, New York, circa 1943. La Guardia is speaking as Director of the Office of Civilian Defense.

Mayor La Guardia In His Office

Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography

American politician and Mayor of New York City Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) (center) stands in his office with a group of unidentified men, New York, New York, late 1930s or early 1940s. (Photo by Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)

American politician and Mayor of New York City Fiorello La Guardia (1882 - 1947) (center) stands in his office with a group of unidentified men, New York, New York, late 1930s or early 1940s. (Photo by Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)